Tag Archives: Super Bowl

Maria Menounos is a woman of her word, and hosted Extra donning a New York Giants bikini in the wintery streets of NYC on Monday after she bet fellow correspondent AJ Calloway that the New England Patriots would win this year’s Super Bowl.

The sight of Menounos in the tiny bikini hosting next to a bundled up Mario Lopez, however, could be enough to make any Pats fan cheer for Giants colors. Menounos looked amazing, showing off her slim and toned body, showing that just because it’s winter, doesn’t mean you should let your workout routine slip.

Menounos has never been shy about her love of fitness and that she got into shape on her own. In an interview with Fitness Magazine, Menounos opened up about gaining weight in college, reaching a size 14, and how she took it off all by herself.

“I did it on my own, when I was dirt-poor,” she says. “And I’ve kept it off for nine years.”

Last night’s Super Bowl Halftime Show proved that age is no barrier to good health. The pop superstar Madonna, now 53, stole the show, looking fitter than ever.

Wearing a mini-skirt and fishnets, Madonna danced and performed with many other big names, including LMFAO, Cee-Lo Green, and Nicki Minaj. Many of her dance moves showed off her mastery of balance that she’s learned after years of practicing yoga. The singer does much more than yoga though to look that great at age 53.

Madonna used to train with celeb fitness guru Tracy Anderson. Anderson created a dance workout routine that helped tone and sculpt Madonna’s body. Anderson even toured with Madonna at times to help keep her fit. Recently though, Madonna has been training with Sadie Lincoln, the founder of Barre3. Barre3 is a ballet-inspired exercise that uses elements from yoga, ballet, and Pilates. (more…)

You have heard of postpartum depression. You may have heard of post-nuptial depression. You might have even heard of post-adoption depression syndrome. Today, I am introducing the idea of a post-Super Bowl depression. There are hormonal changes involved with postpartum depression, but there are other contributing factors that all of these share, as well as factors unique to each. Below are six things you can do to help you recover from Super Bowl XLVI and avoid post-Super Bowl depression, whether you were cheering for the Giants or the Patriots.

Eat Healthy Food – Let’s face it you probably have not been eating the purest diet in the last couple of weeks. You have likely ended up eating a lot of snacks and food on the go. I saw a tweet from @EatThisNotThat that said Americans eat more on Super Bowl Sunday than they do on any other day, except Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, this probably includes low nutritional value items high in processed ingredients. The more nutritional your food is the more physical energy you will have and the more emotional energy you will have as well.

Find Something to Anticipate – After such an exciting week and intense game, getting back to the daily grind is likely to feel like a grind. Some may feel accomplished in being productive again, but others may be left thinking “now what?”. Investing so much energy into planning an event is one of the reasons that post-anything-depression exists. My secret to making it through the winter is to plan for and celebrate the next thing. I can find a holiday or special even every couple of weeks.Valentine’s Day may or not be something for you to anticipate, but Mardi Gras is coming up or the more creative may enjoy the lists of something to celebrate every day. (more…)

It’s time to kick-off the second biggest food holiday of the year – Super Bowl. Yes, this annual NFL game is more than just an event, it’s considered by most to be a holiday. There’s something in Super Bowl Sunday for everyone, whether you’re the consummate party host, the consumer of game-day food, viewer of the half-time show (this year with Madonna), or you actually want to see theGiants and Patriots make a run for the XLVI title. Then, there is that one thing that almost everyone watches the Super Bowl for, and those are the commercials.

Advertisers are said to have paid an average of $3.5 million for each thirty-second commercial, which is expected to be seen by more than 111 million viewers. Brands from categories for beer, chips, soda, and cars dominate the commercial breaks. However, this year, we were pleased to see some healthier players take the ad field.

That’s why we’ve selected Oikos and Belvita as our favorite 2012Super Bowl Commercials. Not only are they clever, and funny – a must for any Super Bowl commercial – but they also put front and center a few healthy options that viewers can find at their grocery stores. No doubt, by tomorrow morning, they’ll be wishing they’d eaten more healthful treats at the party.

Two police offers rave about their sustained energy to do their jobs thanks to enjoying a couple of Belvita breakfast crackers in the morning.

It’s refreshing to see something advertised that isn’t catering to nor promoting our gluttonous ways. When you’re sitting almost motionless for four hours on a couch surrounded by chips, cheese dip, grilled meat and beer, do you really need constant reminders to go out and buy more of it? We think not.

A party like Super Bowl should have one big meal, it should have a lot of little favorites. You don’t want anyone to get too full too soon, that game lasts four hours in case you haven’t heard!

Slider sandwiches are the perfect way to give a little bit of a whole lot and keep your crowd satisfied for hours. We like them because they’re practically built-in portion control. Don’t grill half-pound burgers, make tiny ones on tiny buns. Sliders allow you to to enjoy something often though of as “off-limits” for healthy eaters, but in these smaller packages you can give in a little bit guilt-free.

Our BBQ Pork Sliders are made with lean pork tenderloin, your favorite barbecue sauce, and topped with a homemade coleslaw. They’re super simple to make. You could start and have your platter stacked with sandwiches in about an hour! Talk about the perfect last-minute crowd pleaser. If you’ve got time though, this can all be made ahead of time and assembled as your guests are arriving.

We’re just two days out from Super Bowl Sunday and the anticipation is building! There’s not much to do between now and kick-off except plan Super Bowl recipes and watch Super Bowl commercials. A staple of any proper football tailgate (whether at an actual tailgate or on your sofa) is buffalo chicken. The popular buffalo flavor has many iterations, and this morning, the web wants to know all about buffalo chicken dip.

Yesterday, Mike Valenti published his buffalo chicken dip recipe on CBS Detroit. It looks tasty, no one wonder people are scrambling to find it. However, it also doesn’t look very good for you at all. His original recipe includes regular cream cheese, ranch dressing, an entire rotisserie chicken, and regular cheddar cheese. We estimate a serving of his has at least 487 calories per 3.2-ounce serving. So, we did what we do best, we gave his dip a makeover!

We trimmed a lot of calories, fat, and saturated fat off of his recipe. You’ll get the exact same results, just as much flavor, and feel way better about eating it. With the adjustments we’ve made, the recipe now has about 206 calories per 3.2 oz. serving (this does not include the chips).

DIR’s Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

2 8-oz. packages of reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

16 oz. 0% fat plain Greek yogurt

1 ranch dip seasoning packet

3/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

24 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast shredded and skin removed (bake, grill, or stew in the slow cooker with some of the hot sauce)

Last week we reminded you of the gastronomic list of junk food marketing that’s about to burn our eyes on Sunday. Super Bowl commercials are traditionally made of potato chips, beer, soda, and pizza – the makings of a “proper” football party. We were pleasantly surprised to see Oikos Greek Yogurt make their Super Bowl debut, and deemed themHealthiest Super Bowl Ad. Now, it seems, we’ve got a runner-up in Belvita.

Belvita Breakfast Biscuits are a new packaged food from Nabisco, and they have a pretty amusing commercial running during the Super Bowl pre-game. You can watch it now. Then, read on to see why we aren’t throwing any flags on this new breakfast competitor.

Even with road closures, more time spent in traffic, and parking rates unusual for the Circle City, it is hard to find anyone complaining in Indianapolis. We are all excited and proud to be a Super City. Despite the spike in business and catering orders that restaurant owners were already seeing the two weeks before the Super Bowl, I was able to interview a few local business owners to hear the truth about how they are or are not doing things differently for the Super Bowl.

One major rumor is that restaurants are jacking up prices to gouge out of towners this weekend, but Monon Food Company in Broad Ripple and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company/Scotty’s Brewhouse assured me that they are not. The Scratch Truck food truck may have to cover additional expenses during the week leading up to the Super Bowl because they will be hiring additional staff and renting out extra space for all the food preparation that they need to do, which they anticipate being up to six times what they do during a normal week. While they may not be increasing prices, all the restaurants I spoke to assured me that they will be bringing in additional staff to ensure the best service possible.

Since Indianapolis is host to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – the Indianapolis 500 – every year, which sells three times the tickets that the Super Bowl will, as well as other major racing events that bring in fans from around the world, we are no stranger to crowd management. However, all of the restaurant representatives agreed that the Super Bowl is different. Tim of the Monon Food Company explained that the “press experience around [Super Bowl XLVI] far exceeds other events, so there is more excitement and more spectators who are coming to town just to party,” even if they are not going to the big game on Sunday. (more…)

I am not a sports fan… but I do love a great football movie (like Rudy, oh I cry and cry). I imagine that’s what the actual game feels like to sports fans? Regardless, I am a healthy food advocate and I know what goes on at Super Bowl parties. The food is typically a wasteland of processed, packaged food, filled with weird chemicals and fake flavors, and of course tons of unhealthy fat, sodium and sugar. I don’t want to spoil your Super Bowl fun, I want to increase it. After all, wouldn’t it be better to eat food that gives you tons of energy to emphatically scream at the TV screen all the way through the fourth quarter?

I love the idea of hosting a Super Bowl dip party, snack-y food that you can continue to munch on throughout the game. Just don’t tell your guests they are healthy dips, that’s your little secret. So put down that pre-made grocery store dip (food-like-product) and walk away from the shelf.

Here are some healthy dips and dipping agents worthy of an endzone dance. (more…)

Sporting events generally aren’t places where you count on finding healthy snacks readily available. Lucas Oil Stadium does have some “real food” (I don’t know if healthy really applies) beyond nachos and hot dogs, so I was hopeful for real options when the Super Bowl came to Indianapolis. While there was not much variety within the Super Bowl Village itself, you will not have to wander far to find something that feels more like a meal than a snack.

Deeper in the NFL Experience, near the memorabilia show and autograph stage, Pepsi Max and Doritos each has an exhibit with free samples, contests, and games. Considering the long lines seen in the NFL Play 60 Game Zone, attendees could have very positive feelings about these exhibits.

Luckily, not far from there in the maze of the NFL Experience, the “Sandwich Zone” offers carved turkey and carved beef for sandwiches with several topping options. They also have candy, soda, water, Gatorade, and Lipton Tea.

The information provided within this site is strictly for the purposes of information only and is not a replacement or substitute for professional advice, doctors visit or treatment. The provided content on this site should serve, at most, as a companion to a professional consult. It should under no circumstance replace the advice of your primary care provider. You should always consult your primary care physician prior to starting any new fitness, nutrition or weight loss regime.